Archive for the ‘Passion’ tag

I do declare that this will be my last post on the subject. After reading Paul’s post about trust, I re-examined my reaction to the news of the whole Facebook thing. I have come to the conclusion that throughout this whole thing, I still trusted the FriendFeed team, I was just swinging on a rope.

Back at university, I loved indoor rock climbing. I use to do it at every opportunity I could. We were lucky enough to have one on campus and that’s where me and my friends hung out. In rock climbing, there are three things you trust: Your spotter, your ropes and the wall.

For me, FriendFeed is the wall. All my friends and I climb up and down it, sharing the experience and having a good time. The FF team are the ropes, the things we trust and the most and will help us from falling. The ‘FriendFeed Company’ itself was also the spotter. Watching us, encourgaing and guiding us up the wall, looking after the wall, managing the ropes and pulling on the ropes to stop us crashing.

So, half way up the wall, I awoke to find that suddenly, with little warning, my spotter had changed. I have to trust the spotter fully as we have to work together in sync. I would not climb one foot hold without knwoing who had my back. Worse still, we could not get any word if or when the wall we were actually climbing would actually exisit soon.

So, there we were. Half way up a wall with a new person holding you safety and a uncertin wall. 2 of the 3 things you trust in rock climbing were shaken. That is why I reacted the way I did (and to some extent still are). I still have the rope, and that’s what I am clinging to.

Now, there may be a great new wall coming, epic beyond belief, and this new spotter may make me climb that rock in ways I never thought possible, but, until I know where my next hand hold is, I’m just swinging on a rope…

Look, let me start of by saying congratulations boys and girls. Seriously, you lived the startup dream. You built an epic product, gained a loyal following and then got bought out. I do not fault or hold a grudge againt any of you for that.

I truely hope you can bring some FriendFeedly goodness to Facebook, like the parmasen cheese on top of a bowl of spagetti. I fear you will just be incorporated into a massive soup and form the part that coats the back of the spoon.

See, I think that’s my problem. Last night I spent 3 hours trying to edit a podcast about FriendFeed. I have the shirts. I have the stickers. I have the fanboy love. I have a great group of friends who love and trust each other.

I woke this morning to find that not only have you been bought by a company I despise for their product, but you can’t tell me what is happeneing, when, how or even if the name FriendFeed will exist tomorrow or next week. We are in shock. You’ve broken our hearts. We have no closure.

I love you guys, and will continue to play on the deck as it goes down but all we have is “We need to talk”.

Sometimes it’s your computer. Sometimes it’s the IM client you are using. Sometimes is where you are using that IM client. Sometimes it’s the phone you’re using. Sometimes it’s the cell connection. Sometimes it’s your ISP. Sometimes it’s the settings you have set for how to handle links between programs. Sometimes it’s how you’ve set up your browser. Sometimes it’s just your browser. Sometimes the fault is with the third party service. Sometimes it’s how that third party service chooses to distribute content. Sometimes it’s really hard to manipulate that data depending on how that service distributes that content. Sometimes implementing that feature that you and only 1 other person will kinda only use for the first 2 weeks will require a full redesign or break the site for everyone else. Sometimes implementing a feature is really hard and takes time, be patient. Sometimes it’s who you subscribe to. Sometimes it’s who you allow to be subscribed to you. Sometimes it has already been mentioned over and over again. Sometimes it has but not in a place you can see it. Sometimes people are just more likable than other people. Sometimes content isn’t enough to triumph over personality. Sometimes a well know person will post the same thing, and by nature of that fame, will get more attention. Sometimes it’s how you phrase something. Sometimes it’s who you phrase it towards. Sometimes it’s how you read it. Sometimes it’s not the time to start shit. Sometimes it’s good to know when you’re wrong or to say sorry. Sometimes silliness will happen. Sometimes seriousness will happen. Sometimes topics you may hate get talked about. Sometimes other people are sick of you talking about your topic endlessly. Sometimes someone is in another time zone. Sometimes people don’t like you. Sometimes people like you too much. Sometimes people just start shit. Sometimes people just start shit so they can play the victim. Sometimes people need to think if they can back their shit up before starting it. Sometimes people may disagree with you but not hate you. Sometimes people may agree with others who disagree with you, they don’t hate you either. Sometimes it’s you. Sometimes it’s them. Sometimes block is your friend. Sometimes a block is cowards way out. Sometimes a word like ‘like’ doesn’t mean you like the content of the post. Sometimes Macs are better. Sometimes PCs are better. Sometimes LINUX is better. Sometimes it’s about how you use the computer. Sometimes it OK to take a break. Sometimes you NEED to take a break. Sometimes you’re drunk. Sometimes others are drunk. Sometimes content may offend, block or hide but move on. Sometimes people just don’t get it. Sometimes people will never get it. Sometimes people don’t get it and go away, only to come back later. Sometimes people don’t get it and go away, and don’t come back, that’s OK to. Sometimes people just pipe in, that’s OK to. Sometimes people call other names, that is never OK but along with that, don’t poke a bear lest you get your ass bit. Sometimes it pays to think before complaining. Sometimes placing obscenities in your posts may get attention, but inflame rather than getting resolution. Sometimes it’s OK to make a point. Sometimes it’s OK to have that point rejected by others. Sometimes that point is rejected despite what you believe is a fundamental point. Sometimes you’re just pissing in the wind. Sometimes it just never makes it. Sometimes it just hasn’t made it yet. Sometimes it’s OK not to win. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race. Sometimes it’s just time to leave. Sometimes it’s OK to be a fanboy. Sometimes it’s just not FriendFeed’s fault…

I know it seems silly to care about a social networking site but it represents one of the best years of my life. I have meet some great people, made a very close friend I see as a brother and learnt things that have opened my eyes to a million points of view…

To see that thrown aside by a person in a one line, misspelled, comment on a thread kinda stings… Silly I know, but………